Hospice of the Chesapeake provides physical, psycho-social and spiritual support services to individuals living with and affected by advanced illness. These services are provided wherever the patient calls home. Hospice of the Chesapeake is committed to providing the best possible care for all regardless of their inability to pay.

Hospice of the Chesapeake understands that a life-limiting illness in a family member impacts every member of the family — body, mind and spirit. Our team of Social Workers and Chaplains work as an important part of the interdisciplinary team of professionals who assist patients and families during their journey.

Hospice relies on volunteers. In fact, volunteers are the backbone of the hospice team. Volunteers help set the tone for the compassionate care our patients and families receive. The support volunteers provide greatly enhances the quality of patient’s lives. To our patients and their families, our volunteers make a significant difference in their end-of-life journey.

Hospice of the Chesapeake Foundation is a nonprofit organization that raises funds and awareness in support of Hospice of the Chesapeake’s mission of caring for life throughout the journey with illness and loss.

About Chesapeake Life Center

Chesapeake Life Center offers grief support to anyone grieving the loss of a loved one in our community regardless of their relationship to hospice or the type of loss. We recognize that the experience of loss is different and unique for each person. To support the family of anyone experiencing hospice care, Hospice of the Chesapeake offers family resources to assist in coping.

“Let grief find the freedom to be expressed. Let grief find the right to be understood.” — Kei Gilbert

Grief Counseling

Our professional team of licensed social workers and counselors specialize in grief, loss and transition for adults, children, teens, couples and families.

Grief counseling can help in:

Reducing feelings of distress and isolation.

Managing anxiety and stress.

Developing coping strategies.

Increasing personal awareness and insight.

Hospice of the Chesapeake family members may receive short-term grief counseling (up to 10 sessions) and attend support groups at no charge for up to 13 months after the death of a loved one. Click here to hear from a family member who experienced the support provided by the Chesapeake Life Center.

We do not bill or participate in any insurance plans directly, but can provide you with an invoice to submit to your insurance or health savings plan. We offer a sliding fee scale for our professional services, grief support groups and workshops.

Grief Support Groups

Facilitated support groups allow individuals to explore grief while sharing the experiences of others in an environment of trust. Groups are structured to meet for six consecutive weeks or on a monthly drop-in basis. Registration is required for all groups. To register, please call 888-501-7077. For group dates and details, visit our event calendar.

Family-Centered Grief Support

The impact of grief and loss on a child affects all family members and many aspects of life. Our Family-Centered Grief Support Program focuses on the need to work with the family as a whole in processing loss to assure long-term wellness and stability. Our services help create a safety net of research-based interventions and services to address the paralyzing effect of grief on the family when the child is primarily the one who is grieving a loss not only due to illness, but also due to sudden or traumatic death, suicide or substance abuse. Click below to hear from a family member on the support she received after experiencing the traumatic loss of her father.

Our approach educates, empowers and involves parents and caregivers to help children work through a healthy bereavement process, while families discover the internal strength and capability to emerge from loss changed, but not broken. We utilize a holistic model of care realizing that grief and life changes uniquely affects each person physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially. To learn more about our grief support programs, visit our event calendar.

Bereavement Camps

Camp Nabi and Camp Phoenix Rising grief camps are for children ages 6 to 18 who have lost a loved one. During camp, our grief counselors, staff and trained volunteers give grieving children and teens the gift of hope and healing. They can share their stories in a safe, caring environment while enjoying swimming, canoeing and other outdoor activities.

Application deadline is July 13, 2018. Community support allows us to offer limited scholarships for families with demonstrated need. If you have questions, need additional information or would like to have an application mailed to you, please call 888-501-7077.

SoulCollage® and Grief: A Primer for Grievers

This two-hour online recorded workshop is presented by Chesapeake Life Center Bereavement Counselor, Roberta Rook, LCPC. The workshop will introduce you to the wonderful process of SoulCollage®, a form of meditative art that anyone can do to represent and express your memories, your feelings and what you are learning and how it is helpful to grieving.

Our Sister Hospice in Sub-Saharan Africa

In November 2003, Hospice of the Chesapeake began a partnership with Brits-Hartbeespoort Hospice, its sister hospice in Sub-Saharan Africa. Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa, Inc., increases public awareness of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa and sponsors people-to-people and program-to-program professional exchanges. In the region of Brits-Hartbeespoort Hospice, there are an estimated 4.3 million people needing AIDS home-based care and it is predicted that by the year 2020 there will be 20 million orphans. To help provide food for these families, Chesapeake Life Center and Hospice of the Chesapeake created the “Beads for Brits” fundraising project. Through the sale of handmade, beaded bracelets, World AIDS Day awareness events and other initiatives, we have provided monthly food parcels for the neediest patients and their families in Damonsville, a small village of approximately 1,000 homes with at least six people in houses that average 65-square-feet in size.

“The Challenge John and Cathy Belcher gave us with their gift was to think about healthcare delivery differently. Thought leadership at the Belcher Institute includes every Hospice of the Chesapeake employee and the teaching they impart to caregivers as part of their work. It also includes our interns who are doing research on the latest trends in care, our physicians and the trends they see in the field, policy makers at all levels and, most importantly, our patients. We want to hear and learn from our patients and families in a great way. We want to be intentional and thoughtful in walking the journey together.” — Laurie Harrison, director, The Belcher Institute for Thought Leadership

Courageous Conversations is a series of community-based conversations about end-of-life decision making and caring for loved ones with chronic diseases.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

The public may contact the Joint Commission's Office of Quality Management to report any concerns or register complaints about a
Joint Commission-accredited health care organization by either calling 1(800) 994-6610 or emailing complaint@jcaho.org.